The field of this invention is distribution systems for sampling perfume, particularly sample pouches designed to carry small amounts of perfume for advertising purposes, for example as inserts in fashion magazines or as point-of-purchase samplers.
Compositions and devices designed to distribute a "sample" amount of a fragrance to potential customers are known. These known devices generally hold a perfume sample in a magazine where they either emit the fragrance continuously or contain the perfume in a fragile package. However, each of the known devices has some disadvantage which may include high cost, inadequate rate of and/or premature release of fragrance, difficulty in forming and maintaining a desired shape, or difficulty in preserving the quality of the fragrance in the sampling device.
One established device for sampling perfume delivered in magazines is known in the trade as the "Scent Strip". The process for making these devices involves microencapsulation of the fragrance in a manner similar to the microencapsulation of inks in carbonless forms. One drawback of these microcapsules is that they are fragile and tend to burst during shipping and handling of the magazines, resulting in unintentional release of fragrance.
Processing conditions for making devices which encapsulate perfume, such as heat, pressure, and chemical agents may make it difficult to maintain the integrity of the desired fragrance within the device. These disadvantages have led to a continuing search for improvements in fragrance-sample containers or devices.
When used in conjunction with a mailed article such as a magazine, a perfume pouch must remain firmly secured during transport. Firm adherence ensures that the pouch will actually reach the user. Further, it must remain sealed until opened by the user, to protect the user from unwanted release of fragrance. Of course, a good seal protects the perfume from leakage or contamination that could degrade the fragrance and quality of the pouch itself.
One possible method of securing a perfume emitting article to the page of a mailer is by an adhesive layer on the bottom side of the article. However, many known fragrances or perfumes used in conjunction with perfume emitting devices, especially oil based fragrances, can migrate to and/or through the adhesive layer that attaches the article to its position on a surface. The fragrance oil can mix with the adhesive as well as degrading the fragrance in the containing device. Fragrance oils can also "bleed through" to the mailer page.
A recent development in the technology of fragrance sampling is the perfume patch disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,690, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference to that patent. The perfume patch of that patent includes a barrier layer to prevent migration of the fragrances to an adhesive layer that attaches the patch to its position on a surface, such as the skin of a wearer or a page of a magazine, thereby preserving the internal strength of the adhesive and preventing unintentional release of fragrance.
However, neither that patent nor any other prior art known teaches an inexpensive, tightly-sealed fragrance sampler which can be manufactured readily, shipped, and handled without premature release of fragrance, then peeled for a sampling of the fragrance. The prior art also does not teach a mailable perfume pouch sampler of that type which also has artwork on its top surface, and which can be readily and precisely applied to a magazine page so as to become a part of the larger artwork on the magazine page.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a tightly sealed and well-constructed mailable perfume pouch and pouch label containing fragrance oil without degrading the fragrance oil or the quality of the fragrance emitted.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a tightly sealed perfume pouch label that will not rapture or leak perfume, nor be exposed to air, during transport or handling.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a perfume pouch label that will remain firmly attached to a mailer or other surface during transport and handling so that a potential purchaser of the perfume can open the pouch label and sample the perfume.
Also another object of the present invention is to provide a well-sealed perfume pouch label whose perfume-containing member can be removed from a magazine and sampled.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an efficient and economical method of manufacturing a well-sealed perfume pouch label with artwork on its top surface and which can be readily applied to a surface such as a magazine page.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive means to entice potential perfume customers to sample perfume.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a perfume containing pouch label that offers an advertiser more creativity in allowing the pouch label to be printed and die cut to match or become part of the advertising art.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive yet effective means for disseminating sample quantities of perfume through the mail and/or as a magazine insert in a structure which can be opened to release the fragrance.